Madness
by Killjoe
Summary: The Ice King's and Marceline's adventure before Ooo along with a OC or two showing up. (Please review, it helps :) )
1. Chapter 1

Madness encircled him and madness engulfed him, he flew over a sea that had been plated by ice, he had seen the world frozen in a artic hell, all because he had put the damned crown on, it was the source of all his problems and now he was lost in a maze of hysteria.

Sanity was at the end of this maze and he tried to travel through it, but he couldn't find his way through and it was there, always there, his sanity, wanting to be reclaimed with its maker but the chance of that coming would be impossible.

The crown, it had been a joke when he put it on, but it was no joke now, it was hell, his love, his princess was gone, and in a way, so was he, the crown, the crown, it whispered to him, telling him the secrets of ice and snow.

He fought with it always but it only worked to a small level. He had his good days, and he had his bad days, on his good days he was normal, joked and played with his companion, a young girl named Marceline. On his bad days, he couldn't remember anything and sometimes Marceline would be crying in her sleeping bag at what he had said the day before.

It was time for him to leave, he didn't want to by any means, but it was needed for both of them, and who knew, maybe they would see each other in the future.


	2. Chapter 2

She knew he was wasting away, he muttered strange things in his sleep, he sometimes stared at nothing for minutes on end, he spoke about ice and snow to her, and she walked with him and listened to him, simply to please him. But it wasn't any of these signs that gave away he was crazy to her.

It was in his eyes.

They were cold and sad, like he was trying to remember who he was, but he couldn't, except on better days. His eyes were blank completely empty, and they had a way of making you uncomfortable when they fell upon your own.

She could save him, couldn't she? After the bombs fell he was the closest thing to a father she ever had, he had found her in the wreckage weeping and had given her Hamboo, but she had the feeling that that man was slowly slipping away, he fought to stay with her but in the end, she would end up how she had first been when he found him.

Alone, her only companion would be her teddy bear, soon it would just be them, alone together to face this new world the bombs had created. But she could save Simon, Simon was her poppy now, and she loved that he was, he was her father now, and she could save him.

She had a distant memory of a phrase her recently deceased mother had told her. "Love is the strongest power on this planet, and with how much you love Marceline, I know you'll be strong."

Marceline smiled, squeezing Simon's hand and making him turn smirking at her smile, then turning his head back as they walked over debris. She loved Simon, and if love was the strongest power then she could save him.


	3. Chapter 3

The city expanded before them, some of the atomic fire still burned within it, but otherwise, it was safe. Though debris littered the road and some building had collapsed onto it, he bent down, allowing her to get on his back so he could give her a piggyback ride throughout the ruins. He held the his back pack in his other hand and began to walk through the ruins, steering clear of some of the sharper debris, not wanting any infections in a world of scarce medical supplies.

"Welcome to Richmond Marceline." He said smiling back at her, and she smiled back at him, it was another one of his good days, and she could have wept with joy at it, they were becoming fewer and father in between and she had begun to relish the days when he was himself.

"Do you know the history here, Marcy?" She shook her head some, leaning her head onto his back.

"Well this country was divided because of the slavery. Now Marcy can you believe people were angry at each other just because of the color of their skin?"

Marcy giggled. "No!"

"Well you better believe it little one. Wanna stop for a coke? I think I see a vending machine over there." He smiled with pure joy of having a daughter whether she was adopted or not.

"What's a coke?" She asked him, looking up from her shoulder pillow.

He steered towards the vending machine. "Oh Marceline, you have not lived until you tasted one my darling!" She giggled and made a whooshing sound as he moved towards it, setting her down on the cement, making sure there was no debris to hurt her bottom.

Simon dug into his pocket and produced a dollar bill and fed it into the machine and pressed for a can of coke and scooped it out of its compartment after it thudded down into it.

He used the ice power he had recently developed to cool it up to and make it refreshingly cold, popped it open, and handed it to her. "Here, give it a try."

She did and giggled at it. "Bubbly! Daddy its bubbly!"

He bent down and kissed her on the forehead. "It is ain't it? Now you finish that off." She did, chugging all of its contents then giving a very loud and long burp.

"S'cuse me!" She called out and Simon erupted in laughter, and she followed him into it, hugging his legs and letting the can fall to her side.

There was a loud moan from nearby, and Simon pushed her behind him, listening closely for the sound again. "If I say so, you run and hide Marceline, and don't come out til it's over okay?"

She replied to him in a voice barely above a whisper. "Okay."

It came around the corner, and the moan came again, it was tall and dark skinned, one eye growing into the other, its skin looked to be slowly melting away and its mouth was locked in a smirk, it swayed back and forth, its knuckles nearly dragging on the floor.

"Run, go Marceline!" She did, scampering away into a nearby rampant building that had fallen over during the war.

It walked slowly towards him, each few feet looking to take some effort, he picked up a brick and readied it, never having been in a fight before in his life. "Look, I don't wanna do this, please don't make me."

It kept walking toward him, moaning loudly as it approached where he was, but he stood his ground, not backing up, he shouted at it this time. "Leave!"

He was hoping that it might've been frighten by sound but he was wrong, it only approached him, closer and closer it came. He through the brick with all his might at the creature, and it only seemed to absorb it inside its skin.

It took a swipe at him, and he barely dodged it, and a dull thud came as he found his back against the red brick wall, he began to sweat furiously, even though he was freezing cold, he was nervous, not sure what to do. He had no choice, he could hear Marceline crying, and he didn't want her to lose the closest thing she had for a father.

Simon unclipped the crown that had been attached to his side and placed it on his head, and instantly, he vision was turned into a blue haze, and he could hear them. The voices talking to him and whispering to him, he screamed at the air, the crown consuming him and only transforming him further.

The being took yet another swipe at him, he reached his hand out and grabbed the fist, any normal man's hand would've burned up like butter being thrown into a hot pan, but the powers of frost counter acted it, and the effects on the being were soon noticeable

It slowly started to freeze the being, icy black shards forming over the mutant's flesh it struggled, moaned loudly and yanked back but the Ice King only held on and grinned, the shards traveling up his arm and then slowly consuming his whole body until it consumed him whole.

He simply tipped the frozen sculpture backwards and it shattered into a million piece onto the ground, he cackled, but then he turned to a frowning Marceline and his smile faded.


	4. Chapter 4

Rarely did Simon take off the crown anymore and his good days had started to decrease, when they huddled around the fire at night after a long day of hiking, she could hear him muttering under his breath and when he slept, she could hear him whispering of the secrets of the ice and snow.

He was fighting for control of what was left of his sanity, and slowly he was losing, the crown was corroding his mind, eating away at it like maggots on the carcass of a dead animal. She had failed him, but could she really ever have saved him? Maybe she could've, and if she were able to, then that made the failure all the worst.

They were huddled around the fire once more, trying to scrounge up any warmth they could in this wasteland, their backs were to the tree line and they decided to set up camp in the meadow. She held Hamboo closed to her chest, and went under her sleeping bag, silently weeping in the insulated bag.

Simon went into his own bag, his crown on his head and his beard hugged to his chest and he talked in is sleep. Slowly, and carefully she got out of her bag, maybe she could still save him, if she could get the crown away it might be possible right? Anything she could do to save him was worth trying.

She set Hamboo down and crawled over to Simon's black sleeping bag and put her hands on his crown. It felt like she was holding a brick of eyes, and it was smooth, so very smooth, she could see her reflection and for the slightest of seconds she raised the crown from his head and put it over hers, but she shook her head, snapping out of the trance.

He sat up so quickly, she didn't see it, and he back hand slapped her as hard as he could, she cried out, head snapped nearly all the way back and the crown flying into the fire. He screamed, going into the fire and crying as he picked up the golden crown and placed it back on his head, then stopped. Screaming as the crown burned his skull and what remained of his hair, leaving only a small tuff behind.

Then he looked down at Marceline and began to cry and for a moment he was himself again, he hugged her with all his might, she tried pushing him back but gave in knowing he was not himself.

They stood there like that for nearly an hour, crying in each other's arms, not knowing what would happen in the future, fear was all around them, the world had been torn apart now Marceline's only parental figure was being torn from her, as well; it tore both of their hearts.


	5. Chapter 5

He wrote in his journal while Marceline was off playing with Hamboo, this would be one of his last good days and he knew it, madness had set in too deep, it felt like he was somehow dyeing, yet he wasn't it was only his mind, he had lost the battle, but maybe if he could write a note to someone and tell them of what happened, he could hopefully one day regain his sanity, but it was unlikely and he knew, but hope was what kept him going.

"Marceline, I want you to come over here please." He said softly, knowing the discussion they were about to have. She came over to where he sat again the tree, his beard now reaching stomach and his nose six inches in lengh.

"Yeah Simon?" She said equally as soft as he had.

"Marceline I can feel myself slipping away, and I'm sorry I hit you. This…This thing is killing my mind and I don't think I'll be who I am for much longer, and I wanted you to know. I am sorry." He frowned and grasped her, hugging her close.

"I failed you Marceline, your parents did and now I did. I just want you to know that whatever comes next, won't be me. Please…Forgive me for whatever I do…When I don't remember you."


	6. Chapter 6

He held her within his arms, they were both weeping, her tiny, chubby arms wrapped around his cold frozen neck. "I'm so sorry Marceline, but I have to go, there's no one left in this world that can hurt you besides me, and I…I can feel me slipping away, please f-forgive me."

She buried and her head into his neck and wept hard, her tears turning to ice on his frozen skin, and then she said a word that stung at the very insides of his heart. "Please, daddy! PLEASE! I can make you better, just don't leave me, please!"

He gasped in the air and buried her head against his neck and held her six year old frame close. "M-Marceline, I d-don't want this either but it needs to be done. I c-can barely remember my own name and I'm starting to forget you. Before I harm you…I…I…I need to leave. Alright? Maybe we can see each other again in the future, I'll be old and sane again, and I can smile at seeing you so vibrant and young, I can be happy that you made a family in this Wasteland, but…but I can't stay."

She could no longer talk only weep as he stood, wiping off the tears from his eyes and wiping her own nose and tears with his hanker chief, the crown clanked against his thigh as he did this.

"I love you Marceline, please forgive me, when I don't remember you. Find your father, and you'll be alright." He ran off into the forest, Marceline tried to run after him but she fell, and scraped her knee, all the while, reaching out and calling out.

"Daaaaddy!"


	7. Chapter 7

Marceline sat there, slumped there against the twisted oak tree that held no leaves. The grass swayed slightly as the wind ran through it, and birds chirped from a nearby tree. If it hadn't been for the encounter in the city, this could've seemed like just another day in God's green earth. But no, the world had moved on.

People were dead, dying, or mutated. The one who had looked after her and kept her safe was insane and now gone, most likely doomed to walk the earth as the damned crowned consumed his mind and ate his sanity. She had a feeling that one day perhaps they would meet, in death or life, she was not certain. But right now, she was starving, thirsty, and Hambo sat on her shoulder.

Her cloths were dirty, the cold was unbearable, and within a few hours sunset would fall, and that was when they came, the lost ones. The ones who screamed at night at what they had become, some cried out and hunted the few that remained normal, but most were just sad. Thankfully, however, the sun's rays seemed to turn them off into whatever hole they lived in.

She began to cry but that's when she heard, the sweet stroking of an acoustic guitar, it was beautiful, welcoming and heartwarming to hear after the silence that filled the forest. She wiped her eyes and stood slowly, using the tree to steady herself.

Picking up Hambo, Marceline the soon to be vampire queen walked towards this sweet and gentle sound, all the while hugging Hambo close to her chest. Gradually as she walked closer to the sound, it grew louder and soon she heard his voice, it was rough, but smooth at the same time, like yin and yang balancing each other out so that peace could be achieved.

_Old Pirates, yes, they rob I;_

_ Sold I to the merchant ships,_

_ Minutes after they took I, _

_ From the bottomless pits._

_ But my hand was made strong_

_ By the hand of the almighty._

_ We forward in this generation_

_ Triumphantly._

_ Won't you help to sing_

_ These songs of freedom?___

___He sat there on the rotten stump of a tree, flowers surrounding him and roots spreading out beyond him for several yards suggesting that the tree was giant once, before it had been cut down. A pump action shot gun was laid against the right side of the stump, clean and polished neatly. Marceline watched this man; his head bowed as he strummed his guitar and sang his sweet music._

_ He wore a simple black with outlines of it colored red jersey with number seven in the center of it, a plain yellow t shirt separating it from his black, chocolate like skin. Blue jeans covered his long skinny legs and long brown dread locks touched the edges of his guitar; Marceline's mouth was wide open. Another person! She and Simon hadn't even seen one since they started their journey._

_ Tears of joy came out of her eyes; Marceline wiped them away, nearly shaking with glee at having found a person who actually looked friendly. She hid behind another tree that was just on the edge of the tree line waiting for him to finish his song._

_ But, strangely, he didn't. He sat the guitar down, leaning it against the stump and taking out a pack of cigarettes and lighting one. Putting his hand on his knees and blowing out a plume of smoke. She couldn't see whether or not he was smiling, but Marceline was sure he was. _

_ "Chile, there ain't no reason to be scared. Come over here, so ole Paggy can get a look at you." He looked directly at her and smiled lightly, taking the cigarette out of his mouth and blowing out another plume of smoke._

_ She had not made the slightest of sounds, yet somehow he had known she was there. He had felt her presence. That's the conclusion that Marceline came down to, for she'd made no sound, and had hidden herself very well. Nonetheless, she stepped out of hiding, one arm holding Hambo, and her head down in nervousness_

_ As if reading her emotions, he chuckled. "Easy now chile, there ain't no reason to be nervous. Come here."_

_ Marceline approached hesitantly, after a few strides she was only a few feet from him and turned up her head, staring back into his blue eyes. They almost took her breath away at how beautiful they were, he was a rugged African man, she knew but those eyes held hers. Nothing about them were hypnotic for at any moment she could've torn her gaze away, no, they were relaxing. _

_ "My, my, chile. Good lord in heaven must of blessed you with cute looks. Na, you ain't a mutant, you were born with dem pointy ears werentcha?" She nodded, black locks of her hair still covering her face._

_ "Where's your parents chile?" He asked calmly, breathing in another hit from his cigarette._

_ "My mom's d-dead, my father's missing, and Simons…" She burst into tears, the salty wet droplets dripping down her pale cheeks. _

_ He did not pull her into an embrace, because to do this would've been awkward. Paggy just grabbed the hand that did not hold Hambo and patted it lightly. "Der, der chile, don't shed no tear, don't have ta talk about it if ya don't want to. What's your name younging?"_

_ "Marceline." She said meekly, crying a little but not nearly as much as she previously had._

_ "My, my, dat a purty name right there that is! My name is Paggy Dallas." She narrowed her eyebrows and Paggy chuckled._

_ "I know, dat is an odd name ain't it? Sillier then a dancing elephant." She giggled some, covering her mouth, making Paggy grin._

_ "You a Music girl Marceline, the lil sweet thing?" She giggled louder and nodded._

_ "Well den." He said with his thick Caribbean accent. "What instrument?"_

_ "I haven't ever played one." She said frowning again._

_ "Well girl! We gonna go into a town, and we gonna find you a thing to play. I tink you'll like the bass guitar, it has the lowest and strongest sound, and once you get in da groove with it, we gonna be playing sweeter music then Al Green himself!" She stared blankly at him and he roared with laughter. _

_ He threw the cigarette down, strapped the guitar to his back and picked up his shotgun and began walking with Marceline at his side. "There is a lot I need to teach ya, but first, we gotta get somewhere quick. Suns goin' down."_


	8. Chapter 8

It was consuming what little part of him was left, but he had no idea of what he had once been, to the common on eye he looked like a crazed old man with a thick white beard, a blue robe, wondering the streets of a recently deceased city. He muttered out gibberish, and occasionally he wounded up in an alley, not sure how he had gotten there, shaking and rocking back and forth in a fetal position. He cried at night and long since the lost ones steered clear of his insanity. They referred to him simply as Ice King.

In all reality, he fit right in; he was crazed, transformed into something he never wanted to be, and alone.

He kept mostly to himself; except on occasion when he felt a sudden burst of anger that made him go crazier then he usually was, turning whole blocks of the city into ice. By that time, he had a small district of the city closed off to him, those who found themselves lost in it wound up in the middle of it, frozen in a layer of ice. Sometimes he would talk to these frozen statues, play with them and have snow ball fights with enemies that did not fight back.

He was king in his mind, but what finally broke him and made him what he truly was destined to be, was a simple illusion.

Ice King was sitting in front of a cluster of statues, talking to them as a man might explain something to a crowd of people. "Rosilia! Pay attention! Now this is very simple, you sing one part, then I'll sing the other, then Romero, then Dave, got it?"

Ice King used an extremely high voice, mimicking a girl's voice. "Oh but Ice King, you're so hot with your manly pecks and tough but handsome look!" He giggled, waving a hand away and talking his usual voice.

"I know Rosilia, you tell me every day, but I have standards!" The mutant in the statue had no cloths, and its flesh was a bright crimson red, most of its hair gone and a thin layer of flesh covering her left eye.

Suddenly, he saw something in the corner of his eye and turned his head and for a moment he saw Marceline at the end of the street, giggling with Hambo in her arms. All the memories came flooding back and he fell on his knees and wept like a child for minutes, until he spoke again, his voice clouded with tears. "Will you talk to me?"

He asked the statues. "Will you ever say hello to me?"

His voice started to steadily rise, tears turning to ice as they came down his face. "Will you hug me, tell me I'm not crazy?!"

"Please, just say something, anything, you don't know how alone I am! Please!" Ice King was now on his feet, screeching at the statues and crying at the same time.

He fell on his knees again, realizing what he had become for the last time before he completely turned.


End file.
